Abbott makes correct call to suspend ruling

Midland Reporter-Telegram

Published 6:00 pm, Thursday, March 1, 2007

There always exists a thin line between the public's right to know and the individual's right to privacy.

Naturally, we are in the business of protecting the public's right to know and take those issues seriously. And it is with that in mind when we looked at a recent opinion handed down by state Attorney General Greg Abbott.

Abbott originally ruled county clerks may not share documents bearing Social Security numbers with the public. On the surface, this ruling was understandably subject to much scrutiny. While it protects the rights of individuals' personal information, there is a danger the ruling could be used as a smoke screen, prohibiting public information from being obtained.

Many times in this space, we have praised Abbott's steadfast work in protecting the public's right to know. In fact, there are few in Austin who have done more than Abbott in protecting freedom of information issues. However, we were left wondering when this ruling was issued if this was really the best path toward protecting the flow of public information while attempting to protect individuals' personal information.

Abbott's original ruling was rather clear and it would have impacted how the public (and the press) will receive some of its information from government sources. Abbott ruled concealing the sensitive personal information such as Social Security numbers was mandatory.

The ruling placed county officials across the state under rather strict restrictions when this kind of information is involved. It also placed the people needing official information in a difficult position when trying to obtain official records.

The ruling also caused panic in county governments all across the state since most counties are ill-equipped with staff and time to clear all released documents of Social Security numbers. State business, some suggested, was on the verge of a shutdown.

Obviously, this was not the intent of the law or the intent of Abbott's ruling. Austin is now reacting to a correct a bad situation. Abbott has now countermanded his first ruling, giving a 60-day suspension of the earlier opinion.

In the meantime, Rep. Jim Keffer (R-Eastland) already has filed legislation that would remove the section of the Texas Government Code that excepts Social Security numbers from information covered under the Public Information Act and that effort should be complete within the 60-day suspension allowed by Abbott.

Abbott made the right ruling by law, but the law was obviously flawed since the individual's personal information is really not compromised in identity theft matters in these types of daily courthouse transactions.

We applaud Abbott and Keffer for moving quickly to avoid government chaos and we ask the State Legislature to act quickly in giving us a law that will not cripple government on the local level.